ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN. AFP was first recognized as a fetal-specific globulin in 1956. It is synthesized in the yolk sac, gastrointestinal tract and liver of the fetus. Fetal plasma levels peak at 10 to 13 weeks' gestation and decline progressively until term, 7 while maternal levels peak in the third trimester.2 Laboratory measurements of AFP levels are reported as multiples of the median (MOM).etal plasma levels peak at 10 to 13 weeks' gestation and decline progressively until term, 7 while maternal levels peak in the third trimester. 2 Laboratory measurements of AFP levels are reported as multiples of the median (MOM).
Minority population growing in the United States, census estimates show. Minorities now make up about 35% of the country's population, and about 57% of the population in California. Meanwhile, the white population continues to decline.
Changing patterns of fertility and immigration have put the United States on a short road to a population diversity never before experienced by any nationâa population in which all races and ethnicities are part of minority groups that make up a complex whole.rends in immigration and birth rates indicate that soon there will be no majority racial or ethnic group in the United Statesâno one group that makes up more than fifty percent of the total population. Already almost one in ten U.S. counties has a population that is more than fifty percent minority.